Dr.Awkward:Just a thought here, but being a gas giant, could it be possible that two really big gas giants collided into each other and formed into this planet? A similar theory (the difference being that the doomed planet swiped instead of colliding with Earth) is used surrounding the formation of Earth's moon.

im curious about this. what would happen if a planet collided directly with the Earth? would both just break apart?

Actually one of the current theories about the moon is that when the system was forming and the planets were still colliding (smaller ones collide to form larger planets) 2 planets collided and destroyed themselves, the remains then formed into the earth and moon. If it was to happen today it would depend on what sort of planet hit as to what would happen. If we're talking moon-pluto size it'd do alot of damage for certain but weather it would destroy the earth completely is hard to say, I'd guess probably it would destroy the planet but it's possible it would survive (anyone on Earth at the time would be having a rather bad day either way). A planet Mars-Earth size would defiantly destroy earth, although like the moon theory it's likely the remains would form into another planet (possibly being sucked up by the moon to be formed into it's own planet). If it was a gas giant like Jupiter or this pink thing then it'd just swallow earth like a small snack (seriously the great red spot on Jupiter is larger than our planet, we're tiny) and continue on it's way without noticing, the Moon would probably be the side dish.

And their the more generous options, neutron stars, black holes and other massive objects would all easily wipe this planet from existence and not even notice they had done it. Nice to know how small we really are....

piinyouri:Just because there isn't enough material there to have made the planet doesn't mean there wasn't enough there at an earlier time.

One of the reasons this is seen as unusual is that on the current theory when a system is born the lighter elements that make up gas giants are actually pushed to the outer parts of the system and then small planets gather them and eventually form into this massive balls of gas (and if they get big enough possibly into a star themselves). The theory says that only rock and other heavy elements can make up planets closer to the system for this reason (basically when the star ignites the shock wave/blast and solar winds pushes the lighter elements to the outer edges).

weirdguy:or maybe there isn't that much debris in that area because that one planet ate it all

That was my first thought, too. I mean, you have a planet, and it's massive. It seems like it's more massive than the debris around it could produce because, and here's your evidence, there is NO debris. I mean, it seems rather obvious.

Dr.Awkward:Just a thought here, but being a gas giant, could it be possible that two really big gas giants collided into each other and formed into this planet? A similar theory (the difference being that the doomed planet swiped instead of colliding with Earth) is used surrounding the formation of Earth's moon.

im curious about this. what would happen if a planet collided directly with the Earth? would both just break apart?

Actually one of the current theories about the moon is that when the system was forming and the planets were still colliding (smaller ones collide to form larger planets) 2 planets collided and destroyed themselves, the remains then formed into the earth and moon. If it was to happen today it would depend on what sort of planet hit as to what would happen. If we're talking moon-pluto size it'd do alot of damage for certain but weather it would destroy the earth completely is hard to say, I'd guess probably it would destroy the planet but it's possible it would survive (anyone on Earth at the time would be having a rather bad day either way). A planet Mars-Earth size would defiantly destroy earth, although like the moon theory it's likely the remains would form into another planet (possibly being sucked up by the moon to be formed into it's own planet). If it was a gas giant like Jupiter or this pink thing then it'd just swallow earth like a small snack (seriously the great red spot on Jupiter is larger than our planet, we're tiny) and continue on it's way without noticing, the Moon would probably be the side dish.

And their the more generous options, neutron stars, black holes and other massive objects would all easily wipe this planet from existence and not even notice they had done it. Nice to know how small we really are....

piinyouri:Just because there isn't enough material there to have made the planet doesn't mean there wasn't enough there at an earlier time.

One of the reasons this is seen as unusual is that on the current theory when a system is born the lighter elements that make up gas giants are actually pushed to the outer parts of the system and then small planets gather them and eventually form into this massive balls of gas (and if they get big enough possibly into a star themselves). The theory says that only rock and other heavy elements can make up planets closer to the system for this reason (basically when the star ignites the shock wave/blast and solar winds pushes the lighter elements to the outer edges).

this may sound dramatic, but i had a bit of a panic attack when i began to think of how small we are, and what it would look like to see jupiter consume the earth from the surface.

bullet_sandw1ch:this may sound dramatic, but i had a bit of a panic attack when i began to think of how small we are, and what it would look like to see jupiter consume the earth from the surface.

No problem mate, that realization does hit you hard (I had mine when I was like 10, been watching docos and had a big interest in space for years now).Funny timing of this topic as I found a great doco on youtube the night before this news was posted, it's called Evacuation Earth and was discussing what might happen if a neutron star decided to go for a stroll through our system. Here's the full doco:

And a cut to the final moments (if you don't want to watch the whole how we would evacuate etc parts):

Also while looking for the 2nd one I found this interesting vid, it includes a "what if Mars hit earth" and Venus too, my first thought was correct Earth would survive a smaller planet like Mars (we would be screwed) but a planet our size of bigger would end badly.

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any nightmares and/or other personal realizations those that watch these may or may not have.

A. It's that big because it's absorbed all surrounding debris where there used to be a shit ton, and now there's none left and it's essentially at maximum size.B. It came from an area of space where there used to be a shit ton of debris but now it's one of those nomadic planets on its aimless journey through the void.

Dr.Awkward:Just a thought here, but being a gas giant, could it be possible that two really big gas giants collided into each other and formed into this planet? A similar theory (the difference being that the doomed planet swiped instead of colliding with Earth) is used surrounding the formation of Earth's moon.

im curious about this. what would happen if a planet collided directly with the Earth? would both just break apart?

It would depend on the size, composition and velocity of the planet I'd imagine. It's a good guess that neither planet would like it all that much.

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